New Study: Doctors Need Training in Pediatrics Prescribing

According to a new study, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood new doctors are not enough trained in calculating medicine prescribing amd not specifically trained in calculating the right dosage of medicines for kids and children.

In fact, Sharon Conroy, from the Derbyshire Children's Hospital of the University of Nottingham, and colleagues, clearly stated in their study that few medical programs has taught new doctors how to properly calculate the dosage of commonly prescribed drugs for kids. Also, the majority of the medical curricula do not include training on common mistakes made by doctors and how to avoid them.

According to the new study it was found that United States graduating medical doctors obtained less than 70% when tested on prescribing drugs foe children and that these new doctors were deficient on the mathematical skills needed for proper dosage calculations. In the United Kingdom the situation is worse (according to the study) since only 30% of the new junior doctors calculated correctly dosages for children even when calculators were handed.

Sharon Conroy and colleagues prepared questionnaires to find out how medical schools prepared its student in this area of expertise. These questionnaires were sent to different schools through the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, the Neonatal and Pediatric Pharmacists Group, and pediatric researchers in the United States. Also, an extensive literature review was performed on the issue.

The literature review only found two papers that examined the educational experiences in reducing prescribing mistakes. One of them explained how dosage ought to be calculated and the other showed an educational training program conducted by a pharmacist.